Selection of diet in chicks as influenced by vitamins and other factors.

Abstract

The expt. adds further evidence against the widely accepted opinion that animals possess an instinctive ability to choose the proper food constituents when given a free choice diet. Vits. G and A were studied with chicks, one group having been given an adequate diet and the other a diet deficient in vits. It was thought that the taste of the food might be a factor in the chicks'' choice of what they ate. Supplementary expts. showed that the choice was the same when the sugar content was varied, even when the amt. of sugar was as high as 20%. Marked preference was shown when the salt content was above 2%, the quinine content above .03% or the citric acid above 2%. Tests were made to determine whether the taste factor (sugar content) was important in the chicks'' choice of food in the vit.-deficient expts. The results were negative.